“Statistics
Canada data proves that gun registration doesn’t work,
Ottawa
– Yesterday
in the House of Commons, Garry Breitkreuz, Official Opposition Critic on
Firearms and Property Rights, exposed another flagrant fabrication of firearms
facts by the Department of Justice. “Statistics
Canada is in the business of reporting the facts about the criminal use of
firearms in Canada. Unfortunately,
these statistical truths prove that gun registration doesn’t work,”
commented Breitkreuz. “Consequently,
the Department of Justice tries in vain to manipulate the numbers to justify
continuing a badly-bungled program with a price-tag now approaching one billion
dollars.”
Breitkreuz
made the following statement in Parliament to expose this most recent Liberal
skullduggery:
Mr.
Garry Breitkreuz (Yorkton--Melville, Canadian Alliance):
Mr. Speaker, I bring news today of another huge government deception. Earlier this month the Parliamentary Secretary to the
Minister of Justice told the House that in 1998, 63% of all female domestic
homicide victims were shot with rifles and shotguns. Yesterday the library of
parliament provided me with Statistics Canada data that clearly shows the actual
figure to be 18.6%, less than one-third the claim of the minister. They further
stated that they were unable to find any publication to support the justice
department's claim. It is another justice statistic proven to be a pure
fabrication. Will the justice
minister apologize to the House and Canadians for his deception? Better yet,
will he tell the House what his two predecessors failed to tell us for the last
eight years, that is, how will registration of guns prevent murders? This is a
slap in the face for democracy because we need accurate information in order to
make decisions in the House.
The
Saskatchewan MP was referring to a speech delivered by Liberal MP, Paul Macklin,
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of
Canada during the debate on Bill C-15B. Macklin said: “In 1998, 63% of all female domestic
homicide victims were shot with ordinary rifles and shotguns. A further 21% were
shot with sawed-off shotguns and rifles. In
the home Uncle George's duck gun can have tragic consequences.” [Hansard
Page 10250]
On
April 28, 2002, the Library of Parliament delivered their analysis of a table
prepared by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics that stated: “This
table depicts the homicides of female spouses committed by family members for
the period 1995 through 2000, broken down into three categories: Rifle/Shotgun;
Other Firearms; and Other Weapons/Unknown.
As you will see, the data show that 18.6% (i.e. 13 of 70) of all female
spouse homicides committed by family members in 1998 were due to the use of a
rifle or shotgun, while a further 7.1% (i.e. 5 of 70) were from the use of other
firearms. With regard to the female
domestic homicide statistics used in the 10 April 2002 House of Commons Debate,
please note that we were unable to find a publication (Statistics Canada or
otherwise) that replicates these numbers.”
Click
here for a copy of the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics table:
http://www.cssa-cila.org/garryb/publications/FemaleSpouseHomicides-2002-04-26.pdf
Click
here for a full transcript of the House of Commons debates for April 10, 2002:
http://www.parl.gc.ca/37/1/parlbus/chambus/house/debates/165_2002-04-10/HAN165-E.htm
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MORE
FABRICATED FIREARMS FACTS
by
Garry Breitkreuz, MP – May 1, 2002
Here are a few more examples of firearms facts
fabricated by the Dept. of Justice:
1.
In
1995, the Justice Department published a report that misrepresented RCMP
statistics regarding the number of firearms involved in crime. The Commissioner of the RCMP complained about this in a 1997
letter to the Deputy Minister of Justice: "The
RCMP investigated 88,162 actual violent crimes during 1993, where only 73 of
these offences, or 0.08%, involved the use of firearms.
We determined that our statistics showed that there were 73
firearms involved in a violent crime compared to the Department of Justice
findings of 623 firearms involved in a violent crime."
2.
In
a May 1995 report titled: “The Illegal Movement of Firearms in Canada” the
Department of Justice reported: “It can also be seen that rifles and
shotguns were involved in 51% of violent firearms crimes, airguns involved in
19%, and handguns were involved in 17% of violent crimes.”
This contrasts greatly with Statistics Canada data for 1999 that
found "In 1999, 4.1% of violent
crimes involved a firearm." Unfortunately, this 4.1% statistic was also overstated
because Statistics Canada defines “involved” not as “used” in the
commission of the offence but only as “present” at the scene of the crime.
The Library of Parliament Research Branch examined two different reports
published by Statistics Canada on violent crime in 1999.
They determined that the “Presence of a Firearm
in Violent Incidents” was 4.1%, but the “Use
of a Firearm in Violent Incidents” was only 1.4% - three times
lower than the figure normally reported by Statistics.
And a far cry from the fabricated facts in the Justice Department’s May
1995 report.
3.
The
Justice Department continually brags about how the new gun registry has resulted
in the refusal or revocation of more than 4,000 firearms licences as if this
action in and of itself would reduce crime. But Justice Department documents obtained through an Access
to Information Act request show that the Justice Department hasn’t followed up
to find out if the guns these potentially dangerous people own had been
confiscated by police. Worse yet,
the same goes for the more than 70,000 people in Canada that have been
prohibited from owning firearms. So
much for the Justice Minister’s promise to keep firearms out of the hands of
people who shouldn’t have them.
4.
For
the last 8 years, successive Justice Ministers have claimed that the gun
registry was all about improving public safety.
And yet, Page 13 of a Justice Department document dated January 9,
2001 (ATIP File: A-2001-0156) under a section titled: “Risk Assessment,” it
states: “Risk to public safety is mitigated through licencing – it is not
a registration issue.”
5.
Since
1994, the Justice Department has been claiming there are only 7 million guns in
Canada completely ignoring a 1976 report by the Minister of Justice that
reported on an extensive 1974 study by Statistic Canada that revealed more than
10 million guns in Canada. The
Justice Department has never explained where the millions of guns went between
1974 and 1994. Nor has the
Department of Justice increased the number of guns in Canada since the RCMP
recently declared 286 models of air guns are now firearms and need to be
registered.
6.
Justice
Minister Allan Rock promised Parliament that the gun registry would only cost
$85 million to implement. By the
end of this year the cost will be over $800 million and it still won’t be
fully implemented.
7.
On
April 24, 1995, the Justice Minister appeared before the Standing Committee on
Justice and tabled his now infamous “Financial Framework for Bill C-68”.
This document promised the public and Parliament that the Canadian
Firearms Program would run a deficit of only $2.2 million over the first five
years. The actual deficit over the
first five years was $321,761,005.
8.
In
July of 1999, Justice Minister Anne McLellan promised that user fees would cover
the entire cost of the gun registry. On
April 24th the government admitted they have collected only $44.3
million in gun owner taxes as of March 31, 2001. Much of that has been returned in refunds since that date.
9.
In
1995, Justice Minister Allan Rock promised the gun registry wouldn’t require a
huge bureaucracy. In April of 2001,
Justice Department documents show there were more than 1,800 bureaucrats working
in and for the Canadian Firearms Program.
I could go on but I think by now everyone should be
starting to get the point.